We need YOU to write a letter to your council to show that there is strong community support for holding the Carbon Majors (global fossil fuel corporations) accountable. Why are we asking you to write your own letters? Municipal councilors are the elected officials closest to their voters, and many have encouraged Georgia Strait Alliance to give their residents space to put their stories in their own words. Personalized, researched letters are the most effective way to encourage this group of decision makers to act.
Port Moody, Victoria, and Richmond have all put forward resolutions to this year’s Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) conference in Vancouver on the subject of climate accountability. GSA staff, volunteers, and our allies will be around the convention center buildings and on the floor pushing for a win on this, but we need your help. We won’t be able to talk to every delegate, and the fossil fuel industry will be well represented at this conference.
Municipalities in BC are uniquely placed to bring international companies like Chevron and Saudi Aramco into a legal conversation to talk about their fair share of the climate crisis. We are already paying climate adaptation costs, and stand to pay much more. Both legally and morally BC has grounds to demand accountability from the Carbon Majors.
We know that the fossil fuel companies profited massively from selling their products. We know they knew about damages their product would cause. We know that they hid that information, and spread lies and doubt.
The resolutions before the UBCM on this issue are B136 and B137
- B136 is the resolution from Victoria directing UBCM staff to explore the initiation of a class action lawsuit on behalf of governments to recover costs from the Carbon Majors (more about why that is a good idea here, and here). This resolution will be a very tough sell to the convention delegates.
- B137 is the resolution from Port Moody, and supported by Richmond to pressure the province to enact legislation to clarify the rules around producer responsibility, specifically liability of fossil fuel producers for climate related damages (more about this here). This resolution has more support, but the vote will still be very tight and highly dependent on who shows up for the debate and vote.
UBCM’s support for these resolutions will help protect taxpayers (that’s you) from paying billions of dollars in infrastructure upgrades as the climate breaks down and weather patterns are brutally disrupted. They also puts fossil fuel producers and their investors on notice: they can’t simply profit from climate chaos and not pay their share. Raise your voice! Below are the key messages. Please don’t copy and paste, but edit as you see fit, and most importantly include your own experience of adapting to climate change.
These corporations profited massively, while we cover their costs
These companies profited massively only because we are covering the costs of the negative impacts of their products. Taxpayers simply can not cover the increasing costs of adapting to climate change, expected to be at least $9 Billion in the Lower Mainland before 2100 for sea level rise alone. Canada is already feeling climate impacts at double the global average, including increased weather extremes. If the financial statements of the big oil and gas companies in Texas, Dubai and London treat climate change as someone else’s problem, then those companies, their investors and ultimately world governments will continue to make poor decisions – decisions which stand in the way of solving climate change.
We only have 11 years to change just about everything
We only have 11 years to cut our global emissions in half, and this requires the Carbon Majors to flip their business model on it’s head. “Leaders” like Shell may have invested $2 Billion in renewable energies, but that is dwarfed by the $30 Billion invested in oil and gas expansion. Pursuing this action by BC municipalities will bring into sharp focus for the Carbon Majors (as it did for the Big Tobacco companies) that business as usual for oil and gas producers can not continue.
The Carbon Majors can cover a fair share - not 100%, but a reasonable portion
The companies who profited from putting excess carbon in our atmosphere must pay their fair share, according to their impact on the atmosphere. For example, Chevron, Exxon, and Saudi Aramco would each be accountable for a little over 3% of climate-destabilizing emissions. This is very reasonable for them, and would significantly contribute to the $9 Billion dollar price tag already predicted for the Lower Mainland.
Legal action is worth pursuing
Legal action can uncover what the corporations knew and when, and what they did with that knowledge. This will allow us to have a more informed public conversation regarding our policies, how we deal with the negative impacts of their products and business model. Bringing Big Tobacco into the courts was an incredible tipping point. It made clear that since they caused a health crisis, they must pay for it, and placed limits on their ability to sell their products. We need transformative change on the use of fossil fuels, and using this kind of legal strategy can be a part of stopping the worst of runaway climate change.
They knew, and they lied
We know that the major fossil fuel producers understood the negative impacts of their products, and instead of being transparent about that, they lied to the consumers, funded misinformation, and lobbied against effective climate action. It is unfair and unjust, and we have every right as taxpayers to protect ourselves from this harmful behaviour.
Legislation doesn't initiate a lawsuit
By urging the Province to create a framework (a legal statute), the legal rules of liability for harm caused by climate change will be clarified. This statute will help to protect B.C. taxpayers against the rising tide of climate change costs and give global fossil companies financial incentives to work to solve the climate crisis. BC has done this for Big Tobacco and public health cases and recently for Big Pharma and opioids cases. It does not initiate a lawsuit, instead it clarifies liability for international corporations and offers reasonable pathways for action for all legal steps.
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